Acceptance
by XEmerald Goddess of The NightX
Summary: What she wanted? Acceptance. She's captured by the Akatsuki and they give her what she has always wanted. Though, gaining acceptance from an Uchiha has always been difficult. Will Itachi give her what she wants... maybe more? What about Konoha?
1. Captured

**--- Acceptance ---**

**-- Chapter 1: Captured --**

**- Ita/Saku-**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Eighteen year old Sakura Haruno was currently sitting on the floor of the training grounds. Sweat dripped down the side of her forehead as she let out raggedy, uneven breaths. She had been training all afternoon and was finally done with training for the day. That's what she had dedicated her life to; **training**. Ever since Sasuke left, ever since that dreadful day that she was left on that stone bench, she has trained non-stop. She promised to become the best kunoichi out there and promised to make everyone who called her weak or useless, eat their words.

In the process, she started getting distant. It didn't help that Naruto was never around. He was always on missions or out training with Jiraiya. In fact, the last time she saw him was nearly two years ago. She started to get lonely and upset. Team 7 to her- was officially broken, beyond repair. Sasuke had left, Naruto was always out somewhere, Sai didn't have emotions and Kakashi was usually out on a mission. Where did that leave her? Where was she supposed to go? That is when she decided to just keep training and become the best she could be. She would no longer stand in the background being weak, useless, defenseless ...afraid.

She is now the ANBU captain of Squad 1. She is also the head medic, surpassing Tsunade. With her achievements, Sakura has become one of the strongest ninja around. She always has to be careful because she is wanted by many of the bad guys out there. Naruto doesn't even know that she is now ANBU, because she took the exam while he was out training. She has gotten very powerful over the years.

As for appearances, Sakura looks much more different and has grown. She grew her hair out, so now it rested on her mid-back. Her emerald eyes are still so mesmerizing, but she lost all that sparkle, shine and happiness that used to be shown in them. She grew another two and a half inches. Her face looks more mature and she always has a hardened expression shown on her pale face. Her newly developed curves are shown even with her outfit over it. She was indeed beautiful, too bad that she was too intrigued by her training to bother with dating.

Sakura raised her head up as she heard footsteps approach her. Before her stood Ino, slightly out of breath. She continued to pant before opening her mouth to speak;

"The hokage wishes to speak to you, Sakura," said Ino.

Sakura nodded her head. She wiped the sweat off her forehead as she got up from the ground. She brushed off some of the dirt as she made her way towards the hokage's office. She walked passed Ino, not saying a single word to her.

_'What could Tsunade want with me?' _pondered Sakura. _'Maybe another mission? I just came back from an S-ranked mission yesterday. Well, I guess that doesn't matter. ANBU are always sent on missions. Especially now that war might break out between Konoha and Sound.'_

Ino looked at Sakura's retreating form and frowned, "You've changed so much Sakura...I admire how strong you've become, but I hate how we don't even talk anymore. Do you really have to push everyone away?"

Sakura stopped in her tracks, but didn't turn around to face Ino.

"Sasuke always pushed me away," said Sakura in a harsh tone. "He never accepted me. When I asked all the Jounin Senseis if they could help me train, they never accepted. Why? Because I was too weak." said Sakura bitterly. Ino was taken back by Sakura's tone of voice. "None of them thought I would be able to get stronger. Not even my own sensei, Kakashi. When I asked all my supposedly _friends_ if they could help me train, they never accepted. They always claimed to be busy. Yet, I know...that all of you were thinking the same thing, _'She's too weak, she won't be able to get any stronger. Why waste my time training with her?'_. So, it was up to me to train on my own. Tsunade and my ANBU team were the only ones who helped. I showed all of you, I could be strong. I **am** strong and now all of you expect me to accept your friendships and crap, when you couldn't even accept me when I needed you most? Ha, that's rich."

Ino swallowed hard, guilt ran all throughout her body. Why? Because what Sakura said, was in fact true. They all had thought her to be the weakest out of the Rookie Nine. Ino had never taken the time to really think about it. The way Sakura put it, she made it sound...bad. She didn't know that it was her fault as well as everyone else's that Sakura was now so cold and distant. She thought it was just because Sasuke left her. She thought it was because Team 7... no longer existed.

"So, that's what all of this is about..." started Ino softly, "Acceptance?"

"That's exactly what this is all about," answered Sakura calmly as she started walking away, not even sparing Ino a single glance.

A single tear slid down Ino's face.

When Sakura made it to the Hokage Tower, she knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in," called out Tsunade's voice from the other side of the door.

Sakura cracked open the door and walked inside, shutting the door behind her. Tsunade looked up from her desk and her face became serious when she saw Sakura.

"You called for me, hokage?" asked Sakura.

"Yes," answered Tsunade as she opened up a scroll. "You will be put on a very important mission. Wait for the others to come and then I will start explaining."

Sakura simply nodded her head.

_'I knew it,'_thought Sakura. _'Ugh, how many missions do I do in a month? 18?'_

After about another two minutes, Neji, Shino, Rock Lee and a shinobi named Ryuu entered the room.

"Now that you are all here," started Tsunade, "I can begin. Sakura Haruno, ANBU captain of Squad 1, you are to lead your team in this mission. You are to escort a very important man to Sand. I'm sending you guys to do this because this is a very dangerous mission. There are many elite ninja out there that are after him. Not only that, but the Akatsuki are heard to be around the outskirts of Sand. You will meet this guy, Takasho Naritu, near the front gate at 7:30 a.m tomorrow."

_'This mission will take at the most five days,'_thought Sakura. _'Sand is about two days away, considering the fact we have to slow down a bit for the man we're escorting. We're most likely going to rest in Sand for a day, so that's three days right there. It would only take about a day and a half or something to get back to Konoha but, we might run into some trouble along the way. So I'm guessing, five days at most. Well, I'm going to have to pack like four pair of clothes. I can't stand being dirty.'_

Sakura nodded her head, "We'll be back at most, five days. We will notify you as soon as we've arrived to Sand."

"Good," replied Tsunade. "You're all dismissed."

**--**

Sakura arrived at the front gate wearing an ANBU mask shaped like a cat, over her face. She wore her usual attire underneath her black cloak and hood. Her usual attire consisted of a tight black tank top underneath a red mesh top and black shorts that stopped a little more than above her knee with a red skirt over it that had small slits at either side of her hip, so that it was more comfortable to fight in. She also wore black combat boots and black long gloves. She wore her sword, which was given to all ANBU, across her back as usual. She had the twisting ANBU tattoo placed upon her left arm. She wore her leaf headband that was engraved with the leaf symbol of Konoha on the very top of her right arm.

She had her pouch filled with kunais, shuriken, senbon and other weapons, tied on her left thigh. She had a few other pouches tied around her waist so they ended up being placed behind her, on her right side. One of the pouches had some of her medical materials, the rest had weapons. She carried her bag of extra clothing, medical supplies and the tools and material that she would need for when they camped out of a town or village.

As she stood at the front gate waiting for her teammates, she saw a man that looked about 40 years old, standing there looking at his watch and carrying about two to three bags.

"You must be Takasho Naritu," stated Sakura.

He seemed a bit surprised when he saw her. Well, he didn't see her because her mask was covering her face, but he was frightened to see someone come out of nowhere. He must have been paying too much attention to his watch.

He nodded his head, "That's me. Are you one of the ANBU that will be escorting me back to Sand?"

"Yes," responded Sakura. "I am the captain who will be leading the squad. Everyone else should be arriving soon."

As if on cue, Neji and Rock Lee arrived.

"Why, what a beautiful day it is," said Lee. "Isn't it, Sakura?"

There was a sun out and fresh air all around. The feel of the calm, warm breeze was enough to make you feel at peace. Sakura didn't get to answer Lee because Ryuu and Shino arrived, meaning the whole squad was there.

"Now that everyone is here, I'll assume you're all ready," said Sakura, in a tone full of authority. When leading her team, she acts like a true captain- commanding, but not all that strict . "We will be taking our leave now. Remember- this man, Takasho- getting him to Sand _safely _and unharmed is our top priority. If we're ever to run into any danger, Shino and Ryuu, you guys are in charge of making sure nothing happens to him." Shino and Ryuu nodded their heads. Sakura turned her head and faced Neji. "Neji, you and I will be the ones to fight the enemies away. Is that all clear?"

"Yes," they all answered in unison.

Sakura nodded her head and soon, they were out of Konoha. They were able to escort Takasho to Sand in the time that Sakura predicted, two days and they stayed an extra day. It was now the afternoon and they were near the outskirts of Konoha. Shino, Ryuu and Lee all jumped from tree branch to tree branch, trying to get to Konoha as soon as possible. Neji and Sakura stayed behind everyone else, moving at a much slower pace.

"Sakura," Neji suddenly called out.

She turned to look at him, "What is it?"

Neji was glad that he had a mask covering his face; otherwise she would have seen the light blush that appeared on his face.

"I... need help with something," said Neji uneasily. He obviously wasn't used to asking someone for help.

"With what?" questioned a curious Sakura. She raised a thin eye brow behind her mask. _'Since when did Neji Hyuga need help with anything?'_

"It's about... Tenten," replied Neji uncomfortably. He knew he just had to mention _her_name and Sakura would understand what he was talking about. It took some time, but Neji finally opened up to Sakura. When Sasuke left he was actually there to comfort her, for some unknown reason. They became really close friends and Neji was one of those few people that actually helped Sakura improve. Only Tsunade, Neji, Lee and Shino agreed to help her. That's why those three were on her team, not only because they meant a lot to her, but because they were all very strong.

To his surprise, he heard her laugh lightly. That was the first time in a long time, that he had heard her soft melodic laugh.

"Just ask her out already," said Sakura.

"H-"

"Oh no," said Sakura as she stopped in her tracks. Everyone else stopped and looked at her suspiciously, wondering why she stopped. They were all alert. "I sense four powerful chakra signatures coming our way. They're really close- about two miles. Their chakra is really powerful, it may be the Akatsuki. Neji, use your byakugan to find the ninja and their location."

"Byakugan," said Neji as it looked like veins popped out near the sides of his eyes. "It's the Akatsuki! They're approaching us at a fast rate! They will reach us in about five minutes or so if we don't move_ now_!"

"We might not be able to take them," said Sakura. "Let's get on our way to Konoha! Hopefully we can escape before they reach us!"

Their sandaled feet didn't even make any sounds as they swiftly sped through the trees. They may have been ANBU, but the Akatsuki were extremely powerful and if one of those cloaked Akatsuki was Itachi Uchiha, they would all probably die. Considering the fact he had become an ANBU at age thirteen and he has the Sharingan.

Sharingan is the advance bloodline limit of the Uchiha clan. It is associated with the ability to copy your opponent's ability, control your opponent's mind with illusions and also grant the user ability to read genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu by analyzing and predicting the pattern of their movement and stop it. Sharingan is activated when a member of the Uchiha clan is in life threatening situation. Except for Mangekyou Sharingan, an Uchiha needs to kill their closest friend in order to obtain this.

To put it simple, they would be in grave danger if they went against a sharingan wielder- especially one who has obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Sakura was now in front of her Squad, leading them to a faster way to get to Konoha. They just had to go through a forest and then they would reach the front gate of Konoha.

"Move!" demanded Sakura as she jumped onto a high branch of a tree five feet away from the one she was just standing on. They all did as told and were glad that they did because a Kunai with a paper bomb attached to it was thrown there and blew up the whole tree.

They were all separated now and watched as four figures with black cloaks that had red clouds on them appeared in front of them. Sakura saw a fish looking guy- Kisame Hoshigaki, a guy with long blond hair- Deidara, a guy with red hair and a puppet in his hand- Sasori and to her horror, a guy with bloody red Sharingan eyes- Itachi Uchiha.

_'Dammit,' _thought Sakura. _'We couldn't make it to Konoha on time. Doesn't matter we need to fight to our best ability, my top priority is getting my team to safety.'_

"Captain," said Ryuu, not taking his eyes off of the four cloaked men in front of him. "What are your orders?"

"Fight back and try not to die," Sakura responded as she did some signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_'I wonder what her plan is,' _thought Neji. _'Oh well, we have to fight and hopefully make it out alive.'_

"Itachi," said Kisame. "You take on that brat that just disappeared out of nowhere. I'll go after those guys."

He was pointing towards Neji and Lee, Neji grunted and got ready to fight as he jumped down from the tree. Sasori went after Shino and Deidara went after Ryuu.

_'Where'd that guy with a cat mask go?' _wondered Itachi, not in the mood to play any games.

He looked around, his Sharingan was already activated. There wasn't a time when he deactivated it, which is why his eye sight was becoming a huge pain to him.

When Sakura appeared they started fighting. In a blink of an eye three shuriken were thrown at her, she was able to dodge all but one. It grazed the sleeve of her cloak and gave her a small scratch on the arm. They started fighting using taijutsu, he was a bit too fast for her, but she was able to keep up with him for the most part. He knocked her against a tree. Then out of nowhere she disappeared in a puff of smoke, he was having some trouble with finding her.

"Looking for me?" asked Sakura as she appeared behind him and raised her leg to kick him.

He was able to turn around in time and he countered her attack by catching her leg. What surprised him was when she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

_'That was a clone?!'_ he thought surprised. _'How come my Sharingan didn't see that?! Dammit, my eyes are really messed up!'_

"It's your eyes isn't it," mocked Sakura as the real Sakura soon appeared in front of him. She moved her fist forward to punch him and he moved slightly to the right, trying to dodge her attack. Sakura punched him on the shoulder. He wasn't able to move on time, she was quick; the quickest opponent he has ever faced but still, she was not quicker than him. He never knew anyone who could land a hit on him, no matter how small the blow was, it had been a while since someone caught him off guard. He heard a bone crack on his left shoulder from the impact of her fist on his shoulder. Sakura smirked from underneath her mask.

_'He enfused his fists with chakra, dammit. How does he know about my eye?' _wondered Itachi. _'Who is this guy? That's it, no more games. I have to end this.'_

Itachi disappeared from her sight. She looked around, trying to find his chakra signature.

_'Dammit, I don't sense it,' _thought Sakura. _'It's like he disappeared...completely. But I know he didn't, he's a master at genjutsu. But this isn't a genjutsu; the others are still fighting the other Akatsuki. Where the hell did he go?!'_

Neji was bleeding from his lip as he tried getting up from the ground. Kisame had taken some of Neji's chakra with the huge sword of his, Samehada. Neji was winning the battle in the beginning but, he can't do much when he's lost most of his chakra. Lee was too fast and had no chakra, so Kisame was having a hard time fighting him.

Kisame cackled in that weird way of his, "Don't worry, I'll cut you up to ribbons and make sure this is over soon!"

Clay birds were the specialty of Deidara; he kept throwing clays at Ryuu that would explode. Ryuu kept jumping from tree to tree, trying to avoid getting blown up. At first, since he hadn't known about the explosions- a bird hit his arm and it was now bleeding uncontrollably. He felt like he was going in and out of consciousness, as the blood kept seeping out.

Sakura noticed Ryuu's fatal wound and quickly went over to him. Itachi was like nowhere around so it didn't matter. She quickly went over to Ryuu and pulled him away from the battle area. Deidara laughed and kept following them. Sakura hid her chakra and told Ryuu to do the same as they hid behind a big tree and she tended his wound. She had to reconnect some bones, so it took a while and a lot of concentration.

"Ryuu," said Sakura. "Run back to Konoha as fast as you can and inform the first person you see about the Akatsuki. Don't stop for anything, we'll handle it from here. I'll send the others right behind you!"

"Okay!" said Ryuu as he went on his way to Konoha.

Deidara appeared in front of Sakura.

"Looks like the other brat escaped," said Deidara. "Guess it's just you and me, yeah"

"He's mine," said Itachi as he finally appeared, this time behind Sakura. A knife held against her neck.

"You're no fun, yeah" muttered Deidara as he went over to where the others are.

"Ready to die?" asked Itachi.

"Not quite," said Sakura as she slipped down out of his grasp and kicked his shin, trying to trip him. She wasn't able to trip him but, she was able to escape from his grasp.

She knew she couldn't fight him alone for long. It wasn't that she wasn't strong. She knew, however, that he had been trained in far more jutsus than she had. She threw five shuriken, watching them hit the tree that had been behind Itachi as he disappeared. She felt his presence behind her as she did hand signs really quick and whispered; "Blossom Blades".

Soon Itachi found himself surrounded by cherry blossoms, and he didn't see her anywhere.

_'Cherry blossoms?' _Itachi's eyes narrowed. _'What the-?'_

Soon the cherry blossoms stopped spinning around him and started flying towards him, he saw that they had sharp ends, like blades. He quickly did some hand signs and used Amatersu; it's a Sharingan spell that uses black flames that burn for seven days and nights. All the blossom blades quickly burned from the flames. During the time that the jutsu was being placed over Itachi, Sakura went over to the battle scene and saw that Neji, Lee and Shino were putting up a good fight, but they looked beat up and she knew they were running out of chakra. Well, Lee was just growing a bit tired.

_'I'm not going to risk their lives,' _thought Sakura.

"Retreat!" commanded Sakura, as she stood next to Neji.

"What?" asked Neji.

"You heard me Neji," said Sakura. "The three of you, retreat! That's an order!"

"What about you?" asked Shino.

"Don't worry about me," said Sakura. "Get your asses out of here, _now_!"

Neji, Lee and Shino reluctantly did as told.

"You better arrive in Konoha, safely," said Neji as he left.

Sakura was now surrounded by Kisame, Sasori, Deidara, and Itachi.

She swallowed hard as she looked at them. They didn't even see the hand signs she made because of how quick she did it. Soon they saw a red light engulf her. She spread her arms apart and the light hit all four of them. Making them fly back and hit their backs against a tree.

_'Now I need to get the hell out of here!' _thought Sakura as she got ready to leave.

A kunai was thrown at her and she jumped out of the way, but it hit her hood of the cloak, making it come off and revealing long pink hair. Her mask fell of with it as she cursed; there was no way she'd make it out alive.

She would just have to fight to the best of her ability. When she turned around, she saw that the four Akatsuki members looked a bit frozen.

"You were a girl, yeah?!" asked Deidara surprised.

"Well whadda ya know," said Kisame as he smirked. "They make cute little girls as ANBU captains now and aw she was kicking Itachi's ass for a moment too."

"Cute little girls?" questioned Sakura, with a raised eye brow. "I'm not one to mess with, fish-face!"

Kisame glared at her, "Wanna say that again?"

Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and to Sakura's surprise, when she turned to look at him, her world went black. There was a red and black sky, a white moonlight, as illusions started to appear. Itachi went next to her, to catch her once she would fall. She grabbed onto him and to his surprise, stopped the Mangekyou Sharingan and made his eyes go back to its normal midnight blue color. Still holding onto him, Sakura looked at Itachi with wide eyes. Her eyes blinked until she was aware of what she was doing and she let go of Itachi. Kisame, Sasori, and Deidara looked at her in bewilderment.

"No way...." said Deidara in astonishment, "Did she really just do that, Yeah?"

Itachi actually showed _some _of his surprise. Sakura tried escaping from him but he kneed her in the stomach really hard, causing her to bend over in pain and cough up some blood. He was going to punch her across the face but she quickly grabbed his wrist and stopped his hand from making contact with her face. She looked up at him- her eyes made contact with his and her eyes suddenly started to glow a lighter shade of green. After about five seconds, Itachi's cloak was all torn up and he was bleeding from multiple places on his body. If he hasn't been strong enough to pull away, he might've died from the doujutsu Sakura used on him. She just recently found out about her unknown bloodline limit. She didn't have enough chakra to keep it up though. Healing Ryuu's injury took a lot out of her.

Sakura healed the scratch on the side of her forehead, from when Itachi threw the Kunai and made her cloak and mask come off. Itachi didn't show it; but he was truly amazed at her incredible amount of power. He was also a bit pissed off at the fact that she did what no one else could, she stopped the Mangekyou Sharingan. He grabbed her from her neck and started choking her. She gasped for air. Kisame came from behind and drained out some of her Chakra before banging her head with his Samehada. She fell forward, into Itachi's arms- unconscious.

"She has too much chakra," said Kisame. He stared at the kunoichi in surprise and amusement. "I can't take it all out. Let's just kill her."

"No," said Itachi. "I have plans for this one."

_'I recognize her,' _thought Itachi. _'She's Sakura Haruno; head medic in Konoha, surpassing the hokage herself. Well, that explains the cherry blossoms from before and the fact that she knew about my eyes. She could probably heal my eyes....and she's friends with the Kyuubi, she can be used as bait. We'll be needing this one.'_

Deidara still couldn't get over all of the shock.

"I can't believe what just happened, yeah," said Deidara.

Itachi glared at him, making Deidara shut up.

_'He's just mad that, that girl was kicking his ass, yeah!' _thought Deidara.

"She's definitely one of the strongest kunoichi I've ever seen," said Sasori.

"I'm sure you heard of Sakura Haruno," said Itachi as he adjusted Sakura's position in his arms so that he was carrying her bridal style.

In a blink of an eye, he jumped on top of a tree branch and started running in the opposite way of where Konoha was. The other three members followed suit.

"She's the legendary Sakura Haruno?" asked Kisame, surprised.

"Well, that explains most things," said Sasori. "She was able to heal that guy that Deidara practically blew the arm off of. Her eyes...they glowed and something happened to Itachi. I wasn't sure if it was a rumor but I heard that she has some unknown secret bloodline limit. Also, she was able to stop the Mangekyou Sharingan and she was able to attack all of us by doing something, engulfing herself in light and then making it attack us. This is definitely the hokage's apprentice, Sakura Haruno."

"She's strong, yeah," said Deidara as he looked at her, as she "_rested_" in Itachi's arms. "And beautiful, I'd take her as mine any day, yeah."

**--**

Once Shino and Neji arrived to Konoha, they quickly went to the Hokage Tower. When they opened the door they saw that Tsunade looked a bit worried.

"Where's Sakura?" she asked as she jumped to her feet.

"She's still with the Akatsuki!" said Shino. "She ordered us to come back. We need to send help!"

"Help was already sent!" said Tsunade. "We must wait and see what news they bring. Dammit, she better be alright!"

Kiba and Hinata rushed into the room.

"She's nowhere to be found," said Kiba. "We arrived at the battle area, and it's empty. Akamaru and I couldn't track her scent; she's probably really far from here. My guess is that they captured her and took her with them...for some reason."

Tsunade's eyes went wide, as well as Shino's, Rock Lee's, and Neji's. Neji was about to leave the room but, Tsunade stopped him.

"Stay put Hyuga," she ordered.

"We need to go rescue her!" argued Neji.

"Don't talk to me in that tone Hyuga," snapped Tsunade. "Know your place! I'm going to assemble a team for this rescue mission. At least three ANBU squads have to go. Ryuu, you will not be going. The rest of Squad 1 will have to go help her. Your arm is damaged; you need to go to the hospital and then rest afterwards."

Ryuu was going to protest but, then decided against it, _'I sure hope your okay, captain.'_

To Tsunade's annoyance and surprise, Naruto and Jiraiya barged in.

"I'm back!" said Naruto smiling happily.

He was surprised to see all of their upset and serious faces, _'What's going on?'_

"Naruto, you can't come in like that!" hissed Tsunade. She was glaring daggers at him.

"Lighten up grandma Tsunade!" said Naruto cheerfully.

"How can I lighten up?!" asked Tsunade angrily. "Sakura has just been captured by the Akatsuki!" The grin instantly came off of his face. Jiraiya had a look of shock written all over his face. "You will be put on the rescue mission to go save her."

Naruto's eyes bulged out, "What the heck? The Akatsuki?! Why did they take her? What's going on? What do they want with Sakura?!"

"She was on an ANBU mission and they got amb-"

"ANBU?!" Naruto practically yelled.

"Stop interrupting her you idiot," said Neji. "The sooner she explains, the sooner we get to go save her!"

Naruto looked at Neji dumbfounded, _'Since when did he care so much about Sakura?'_

"You've been gone for two years," said Tsunade in a calmer tone. "Sakura has become extremely powerful since then. She is ANBU captain of squad 1. She is also head medic. On her way back from a mission, the Akatsuki ambushed her squad. After some fighting, she ordered her squad to return. She never made it back and since her body isn't there and nor is there any bloodshed, we will assume they have captured her and they haven't killed her..._yet_. Right now I will assemble the teams to go find Sakura."

Naruto couldn't believe at how strong Sakura had become since the last time he saw her and he also couldn't believe the Akatsuki captured her. How dare they touch her! He would certainly make them pay. Naruto's fists clenched in anger, oh, _he would definitely make them pay_.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you liked the chapter- **please review!**

**-x Emerald Goddess Of The Night x-**


	2. Stubborn

**--- Acceptance ---**

**-- Chapter 2: Stubborn--**

**- Ita/Saku-**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

_'What's this soft surface that I'm on?_' thought Sakura as she groggily opened her eyelids, averting her eyes around the room. She felt a sudden pang in her head and winced. _'Aww damn, I wonder who hit my head and knocked me out. My head hurts like hell.'_

There were three doors and two small dressers at either side of the bed that she was laying on and a chair across the room. She narrowed her eyes; it was all coming back to her now.

_'I'm not dead?'_ she thought. _'Why the hell am I here? I'm pretty sure the Akatsuki have a purpose for bringing me here. Dammit, where are they?!'_

She tried getting up, but noticed that her hands were tied behind her back and her feet were tied together. She cursed under her breath when she realized that they drained most of her chakra. She had to escape- she had to return to Konoha. She wondered if the others were alright. Did they make it? Did they escape? She tried to break free from the rope that was cutting at her skin like a knife. She winced in pain as she felt herself getting more cuts. That's when she realized that it wasn't a rope; they had tied her up with chakra strings.

_'I guess they aren't known as S-Class Criminals for nothing,' _thought Sakura, as she continued with her attempts at getting free.

With the small amount of chakra that she had left, she concentrated it to her palms. After about five seconds, she forcefully pulled her arms apart and broke free. She sat up on the bed and rubbed her wrists.

_'I have to escape,' _thought Sakura.

She concentrated some more of her chakra into her legs and did the same thing she did with her hands to escape. She felt herself going dizzy from the lack of chakra.

_'Don't be weak Sakura,'_ was the thought running through her mind. _'I have to escape from here.'_

Sakura noticed that she no longer had any of her weapons or pouches, _'I guess I can only use taijutsu if I encounter one of them.'_

She walked over to the window, it had seals all over. She looked outside and saw that she seemed to be on a second floor. She didn't have enough chakra to destroy any of the seals. She walked over to one of the doors and opened it. It lead to a hallway. She slowly walked outside and closed the door behind her. Which way was she suppose to go? She decided to just look for a staircase.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked a voice from behind.

Sakura remained impassive when she saw the Akatsuki member behind her. It was a plant-like member who was two different colors, each half was different...his name was Zetsu.

_'I don't have time for this bullshit,_' thought Sakura.

She punched Zetsu with as much force as she could muster and sent him flying into the room. She ran down the red carpeted halls. Determination was written all over her face. She had to escape. Twisting and turning with every corner. Her eyes lit up when she saw a staircase; she stealthily walked over to it and hid behind the wall.

She looked down and saw two Akatsuki members talking. Those two members were Deidara and Kisame. She heard footsteps from behind her.

_'Dammit, I have no choice, but to make myself known,' _thought Sakura as she ran down the stairs.

Deidara turned around and was surprised to see Sakura. She pushed passed him and tried to get away. Kisame stopped her by putting his Samehada in front of her.

"Didn't think we'd let you escape, did ya?" asked Kisame, chuckling a bit.

Sakura glared at him, "I don't have time for your silly games."

She was going to try escaping another way, but saw Deidara appear in front of her with a small smirk. She cursed under her breath as she turned around to face Kisame once again.

"Now, be a good girl, and go back to the room," said Kisame. "Before I cut you to ribbons!"

"Not on your life fish-face," retorted Sakura. "I have no intention of staying here."

She jumped over the Samehada and just as she was about to reach the front door, Itachi appeared in front of her.

"You're not going anywhere, Kunoichi," said Itachi in a monotone voice.

"Who's going to stop me?" asked Sakura with a raised eyebrow. "Certainly not you."

She quickly pulled off her necklace and threw it on the ground.

"Sayonara," she said as she quickly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Itachi was about to go after her when all of a sudden he fell to the floor. Kisame, Zetsu, and Deidara also fell on the floor unconscious. When Sakura threw the necklace on the ground, it opened up and a sleeping gas surrounded them. She knew they would wake up soon but, at least she had a twenty minute head start. She found herself outside on what seemed to be the training grounds.

_'Where am I?' _wondered Sakura. _'And which way am I suppose to go in order to reach Konoha.'_

"You look lost," said Itachi as he appeared in front of Sakura.

Her eyes hardened as she went into a fighting stance.

"You should be knocked out..."

"That was a clone," said Itachi as he walked around her, not taking his eyes off of her. "Tell me, how did you manage to get free from Sasori's chakra strings?"

"It was fairly easy," answered Sakura hotly. "Don't tell me it was one of his strongest."

Itachi didn't say anything; he just continued to look at her. It's like he was observing her inside and out. She felt quite uncomfortable with his gaze on her. She decided to just dismiss the uneasiness.

"Haha, so it was his strongest," mocked Sakura. "I guess he needs to improve some more."

"How were you able to get free without any chakra?" Itachi continued to question her.

"I had some left," said Sakura, getting annoyed that he was circling around her. "Stop walking around me, I'm dizzy enough."

There were suddenly four kunais thrown at her. She managed to dodge all of them at the last minute, catching two of them in between her fingers. With an immense speed and force, Sakura threw one kunai straight towards Itachi's heart. He wasn't fast enough to dodge it, it hit him directly on his heart. But all of a sudden, he turned into a log.

She narrowed her eyes, _'Substitution jutsu, eh?'_

Itachi suddenly appeared in front of her, as he formed some hand signs, and fire came out of his mouth. He thought he got her, when all of a sudden she disappeared in a puff of smoke; _a clone_. She kept surprising him- how was she able to form those jutsus and fight against him when she barely had any chakra left? She just had so much strength, and it was amusing him. She was a worthy opponent.

Sakura appeared in front of him. She had a kunai from when he threw them at her earlier. She was going to stab him with it, but he countered the attack with his own kunai. The two kunais clashed together. Making a 'cling' sound.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" asked Sakura.

He had many chances to kill her. She didn't have any chakra! Surely if he wanted to, he could have killed her already. But then again, they did keep her alive. What were they planning on doing with her?

Itachi didn't say anything as he appeared behind Sakura, with a kunai at her neck. Sakura refused to quaver or show any sign of fear. She feared no one, she'd listen to no one, she'd take crap from no one. She was strong; and she would complete her goal of showing the world just that. That she was powerful and could defeat nearly any ninja out there. That she was worth something. That she wasn't one to mess with.

She smirked, "Brings back memories, doesn't it?"

She was referring to their last battle. Her smirk quickly faded away when Itachi turned into a tree and she was bound to it.

_'Genjutsu,' _thought Sakura.

The real Itachi was again in front of her, placing the cold metal against her neck. The smirk and cold look in Sakura's eyes came back.

"You won me this time, Itachi," said Sakura bitterly. "But it was mere luck. Next time, when I have all my chakra, I'll kick your ass."

With that said she fell forward, unconscious. The illusion of the tree disappeared as Itachi caught her. He looked down at her, she was all worn out. It was true, he could have killed her. But, his orders were to keep her alive. Besides, he would need her for some things.

_'Her strength is unbelievable....' _thought Itachi. _'Even with nearly no chakra, she was still putting up quite a fight. I wonder how she got so strong. Still, I don't like the fact that she may be one of those few people, if not the only one who can match my power or even surpass it. She sure is an interesting one; we're definitely keeping this one. Her power is much too great for us to let her go back to Konoha.'_

He carried her bridal style and went back inside the house that she ran out from earlier. When he entered he saw that the others were starting to gain consciousness. He walked up the stairs and saw Sasori come out of his room. He rubbed his eyes and looked surprised when he saw Sakura lying in Itachi's arms, looking all beat up.

"What happened?" asked Sasori.

Itachi said nothing and continued on his way towards the room she was put in. He put her down on the bed and sat on the chair, facing across from her.

_'I guess I'm going to have to keep my eye on her,' _thought Itachi.

When she woke up, they would leave to another base...to visit their leader. Their leader, Pein, would inform them on what to do with her.

_'I need her to heal my eyes,' _thought Itachi. _'Whether she wants to or not, she needs to heal them.'_

To his surprise, she started waking up after about 45 minutes. Her power, her stamina; it's like she never ran out of it. She barely rested and already she was up and awake. She rubbed her eyes ......and rolled her eyes when she saw Itachi sitting on a chair across from where she was resting. The short nap made her regain some of her chakra. She still didn't have all of it and barely any, but she had some and that was good enough for her.

"Well, wouldn't expect you guys to trust me after last time," muttered Sakura as she sat up. "By the way, what happened to my comrades?"

Itachi said nothing as he stood up from his seat; he motioned her to follow him, as he left the room. Sakura sighed, it's not like she had a choice. She figured that his silence meant that they didn't encounter any of her teammates...and that they escaped. Well, she hoped that's what it meant. It could just have been that Itachi normally doesn't say much. She followed him, as he led her downstairs into what seemed like the living room. She kept looking around, inspecting everything.

_'They live in a simple, cozy, regular home,' _thought Sakura. _'There's nothing special about it and...nothing creepy. If anything, the only thing creepy in this house is that there's a talking fish here.'_

She smirked when she saw the somewhat angered faces of Kisame, Zetsu and Deidara. Sasori had been informed of what happened and just looked at her...a bit surprised. Considering the fact that no one was able to break free from his chakra strings before.

"I want to kill the bitch already," grumbled Kisame.

Kisame quickly found himself slammed against the wall. Sakura was looking at him with anger written all over her face, as she glowered at him. He was a bit frightened, but hid it.

"Don't you dare call me a bitch," she hissed, her mouth close to his ear. She pulled him up by the collar of his Akatsuki cloak.

Itachi continued to watch in amusement, _'She's not even afraid of any of us. If anything, she challenges all of the Akatsuki. Hn, interesting.'_

He decided to save Kisame the embarrassment as he pulled Sakura off of him and threw her against the wall. Kisame regained his composure and glared at her. She just stayed seated on the floor as she wiped the blood from her mouth, not saying a word.

"Know your place," said Itachi coldly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," muttered Sakura in annoyance. "I'm surrounded by five members of the Akatsuki. I should watch what I say and do." mocked Sakura as she rolled her eyes. She looked at everyone, "That is bullshit! I'm not taking any of your crap! You can beat me up and do whatever the hell you fucking feel like, but don't expect me to let you. I'm going to stand my ground and defend myself. Go fuck yourselves. You guys don't own me."

They all smirked at her outburst, including Itachi; she sure was an interesting Kunoichi. That little outburst, just gained her their respect.

"You sure got guts, yeah," said Deidara as he stood up from his spot on the couch.

"Not to mention some nerve," muttered Kisame. _'We can kill her on the spot. She won't be able to defend herself from all of us. Though I got to admit, her boldness is quite admirable.' _

"Can't wait to see what happens between you and the leader, yeah."

Sakura looked blankly at him, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"We're taking you to the leader," said Kisame, almost teasing her. "Let's see if you're still stubborn and tough when you talk to him."

Sakura got up off the floor and rolled her eyes, "Like he's anything to be scared of."

_'We shouldn't be conversing with this kunoichi anyway,' _thought Kisame. _'If she acts like this toward the leader, he's going to kill her right there and then.'_

"We shouldn't trust you because of what happened last time," said Sasori. "But, we're going to let you just follow us. There's no point in carrying you or anything. If you try to escape, you'll either be killed or we'll end up capturing you again. So, I wouldn't bother trying to escape if I were you."

"We'll see," said Sakura nonchalantly.

_'It just amazes me how she can be so laid-back and crap,' _thought Deidara, as he looked her up and down. _'She's fucking strong, stubborn, feisty and hot- my type of girl. Though I would like it if she was a bit nicer. We'll see if she's still alive after our meeting with the leader.'_

"Well, I guess we'll be on our way," said Sasori. "Oh and if you're hungry...just know we'll be eating over there."

Sakura nodded her head. Itachi stepped out of the front door. The other five Akatsuki members and Sakura followed suit. Deidara and Kisame stayed on either side of Sakura, making sure she didn't try anything. Itachi stayed in the front, Zetsu in the back, and Sasori in the middle...just in front of Sakura, Kisame, and Deidara. Sakura was feeling really fatigue because she still didn't get a chance to recover a lot of her chakra. She would be able to keep up with them, but it was a big pain. Especially since she felt like the whole world was spinning around her. She refused to show it though.

They quickly ran through the trees, trying to reach their leader's base as quickly as possible. Sakura didn't even know why she complied to their orders. She didn't feel like meeting their stupid leader. All she wanted was to be back in Konoha with her friends- even though she only had about five true friends. She saw that it was getting dark.

_'What time is it?' _wondered Sakura. _'How long have I been here? Days? Hours? Ugh, I really don't know. I felt lost when I woke up this morning....I could have been sleeping for three days for all I know. Wherever I am, I hope my teammates are somewhere safe right now...being treated to any injuries.'_

**--**

There were three ANBU teams, along with Naruto, that were now running through the trees. It was already the afternoon of the next day. Sakura was kidnapped yesterday, they left at 3 in the afternoon and they had already been searching for hours. The skies were already starting to get dark. For this mission, Neji was the captain of Squad 1- Lee, Shino, and Naruto wore an ANBU outfit....because he wanted to be part of the mission too. Shikamaru was the captain of Squad 2- Kiba, Sai, Chouji, and Ino. Kakashi was also put on the mission as captain of Squad 3- Hinata, Yamato, and two other ANBU, that weren't known too well; Haruaki and Kai.

"We'll just camp out where the battle scene was," stated Neji from underneath his mask. "Kiba and Akamaru can memorize the scent, and we'll go searching tomorrow morning. It's getting much too dark for us to look for her now."

Shikamaru agreed, "That's seems like the most reasonable plan. We need to sleep every night anyway."

The three teams continued on their way to the outskirts of Konoha.

_'You better be safe Sakura,' _thought Neji, clenching his fists.

**--**

Sakura was able to keep up with them, and didn't show any sign of being tired; although that's what she was. She didn't even get to eat anything! Oh yeah, they were going to go eat at the leader's base.

_'What's his name again...' _thought Sakura. _'Pain? Peon? Haha, Peon...I guess he likes people to piss on him. No never mind that, ummm oh yeah, Pein!'_

"So...Sakura," said Deidara as Sakura turned her head to face him. "What's your life like in Konoha, yeah?"

"That's none of your business," Sakura said coldly.

"I was just asking a question, yeah," said Deidara a bit defensive.

"You don't see me asking questions about your life, so don't ask me about mine." snapped Sakura.

_'Damn...she's cold,' _thought Deidara. _'Sakura...doesn't that mean cherry blossom? That describes her perfectly...yet, it's also her opposite. She's looks beautiful and fragile, yet she's strong, cold and independent. What's up with that, yeah?'_

"Whoa, calm down, yeah," said Deidara. "I didn't mean to get you mad or anything, yeah."

Sakura could tell that he was truly sorry...and that he felt bad for asking her that question. Honestly, she didn't mean to be so harsh. She just...didn't have such a great life in Konoha. She was always alone and all she ever did was train. Would you even call that having a life? All of her supposedly _'friends' _abandoned her. Everyone except her Squad, Naruto and Tsunade. They were the only ones she actually had a connection to. But no, she wasn't feeling sorry for herself. If anything, she was feeling hatred for all of those who looked down on her. All of those who refused to help her. Why should she even care about going back to Konoha? She felt so alone there...but then again, she still had a few people who cared for her. She had to go back. Just for those few people.

"Don't worry about it," muttered Sakura as she stayed looking forward. "Didn't mean to go off on you like that..."

Deidara grinned, _'So there is a nice side to her, yeah.'_

He didn't say anything but they all just continued on their way to...Sakura didn't exactly know where. Just that they were going to the leader's base. After about another three miles of traveling, they finally came to a stop. Sakura was confused...why were they stopping in front of a waterfall? Even though it was pitch black outside....she could hear the water and the reflection of the moon let her see the water, falling from somewhere high above. She couldn't really see it, but she thought it was beautiful. She looked over at Itachi and saw that with a few hand signs he whispered something...and the waterfall split in...two? Say what? She was beyond confused. Deidara then made a few hand signs and a door appeared on the rocky mountain. Sakura's eyes widened as she stared in awe.

_'No wonder no one knows where their whereabouts are!' _thought Sakura. _'They make their door disappear on the mountain...and they hide it behind a waterfall. Incredible! Damn, but, I still don't know where we are. What village are we in? Ugh, not like they would tell their hostage.'_

They started going in and Zetsu pushed her towards the door. Sakura was about to say something, but then decided against it. She walked into the cave-like room and saw that the waterfall soon closed...back to how it was before and the door disappeared. She sweat dropped.

_'There's no way I can escape...' _thought Sakura. _'It's times like these that I wish I was an armadillo who can just dig themselves out of these types of places.'_

She continued following them, noticing that the walls were no longer made out of rock. She also noticed that the floors were wooden now.

_'Damn, it sure must have taken a while for this huge makeover,' _thought Sakura.

Kisame knocked on the door and they all heard a deep voice say, _'Come in'_. Sakura was starting not to like this. He sounded much to evil and calm. Did he sound like that when he killed all those innocent people? Probably. That's what the Akatsuki were. Lowlifes. They were merciless killers, killing innocent people. Killing anyone who stood in their way, not giving them a chance. Well, that's what she knew them to be. She read some things about them from the Bingo Book. She found out that she was in the Bingo Book-- but in the "Criminals edition". Meaning, all of those that Konoha, Suna and other villages opposed, had Sakura in their Bingo Book, including Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi and Naruto. They were just so powerful, that they were starting to become a threat to all those evil organizations out there.

Kisame almost hesitantly turned the knob and entered. The other four Akatsuki members and Sakura entered the room too. She saw the rest of the Akatsuki being seated around the huge table. She knew them to be Konan, Tobi and of course, Pein.

She saw that Pein smirked when he saw her. Sakura's face held no expression. She was hardened. He expected her to be at least a bit scared that she was surrounded by all of the Akatsuki- and was a bit disappointed when he saw that she wasn't. Although, he was rather amused.

"Sit down," ordered Pein.

They all sat down, Sakura sat in the empty seat between Itachi and Deidara.

"Sakura Haruno, right?" Pein stated more than asked.

_'How the hell do they even know my name?!' _Sakura narrowed her eyes. _'I never once mentioned my name!...Did I? I don't recall...'_

She simply nodded her head.

"Your ANBU captain of Squad 1 and Head Medic.....correct?" asked Pein. Sakura just nodded her head. "You surpass The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. Don't you?"

"No," said Sakura. They all said that she surpassed the Hokage...Tsunade herself said it! But, Sakura said that she didn't surpass her. She claimed that she still had some more training to do. That no one was stronger than the Hokage. That Tsunade was still far more powerful than her in many ways.

Pein narrowed his eyes, but continued looking at her, "Yes you do. Tsunade mentions it herself. Believe it or not, that's what it says in the Bingo Book. You surpass the Fifth Hokage, who is also one of the legendary sanin. I must say, that's quite an achievement for someone such as you. You don't look all that strong."

Oh, he just pressed the wrong button. Sakura glared fiercely at him, which got the attention of all the other Akatsuki members.

_'Why does she look at him that way?' _thought Itachi. _'Does she want to die?'_

_'Damn, control your temper or you're good as dead, yeah,'_ thought Deidara.

"It doesn't matter about appearance," snarled Sakura. "For instance, you look like some pretty boy. I don't think anyone would have figured you to be the leader of an S-Class criminal organization."

_'Hn, she does want to die,' _thought Itachi. _'Foolish girl.'_

Pein was surprised with the guts she had, but smirked. She didn't know what she was getting herself into. The other Akatsuki members were thinking the same thing; she was foolish to talk like that to the leader. Sakura honestly didn't care. She would not shut up and listen to him much longer. How dare he say that she doesn't fit with what the Bingo Book says about her! She was all of that and more. Was he trying to call her weak? He hasn't seen what she was capable of! She'd smack the smirk off his face.

"Feisty, eh?" said Pein amused as he leaned back in his seat. "Cherry blossom, I hope you know your pl-"

"Dammit, do all of you rehearse what lines to say to your hostage or something?!" asked Sakura in annoyance. "Yeah, I get it, I know where my damn fucking place is. But honestly, I don't give two shits. And my name isn't Cherry blossom, it's Sakura."

"You should really try to calm down," Deidara said in a hushed tone. "He really ain't the one to mess with. He'll kill you, yeah."

Sakura ignored Deidara and continued to look at Pein with an angry glare.

"Don't test my patience," snarled Pein.

"Don't test my ability," said Sakura with as much force.

Pein chuckled, "Just like the Hokage, so stubborn...so foolish."

Pein appeared behind her, and cold metal was touching her neck. It was a kunai. Sakura didn't seem fazed. Deidara and Kisame gulped, would he kill her? Itachi and Sasori were like Sakura, unfazed. After all, she did seem to be asking for it.

"Kill me if you want," said Sakura. "Just stop wasting my time. What do you want with me anyway?"

"We didn't expect to capture you," started off Pein, "Although, that was going to be their next mission. Join the Akatsuki. I haven't seen your skills, but I trust that the book named some of your capabilities. I heard of what happened during the fight near the outskirts of Konoha. I also heard of what happened when you nearly escaped. It's quite impressive. We can bring your powers to good use. We need a medic anyway."

"As if that would ever happen," scoffed Sakura. "I'm not going to betray my village."

_'Are they seriously asking me to join them?' _thought Sakura. _'So...they do believe I'm strong. Unlike most people in Konoha... But, they're criminals! I would never stoop to their level! Besides, I'm not going to become a traitor. Never! The idea is just absurd..'_

Pein put more pressure on her neck, causing her to stiffen a bit.

"Last time I checked, Konoha betrayed you," said Pein, almost mockingly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, "What are you talking about?"

Pein chuckled and shook his head, he sure seemed like he was having fun. Everyone else watched the two intensely. Things sure were getting interesting.

"Don't you remember cherry blossom?" asked Pein. "When the young Uchiha left you hurt and alone." Sakura gritted her teeth and clenched her hands into fists. "You tried to get stronger, but you being the weakest person in Konoha...no one helped you. They abandoned you. They betrayed you."

Sakura's eyes flared, "How the hell do you know all of that?!"

_'The younger Uchiha?' _Itachi narrowed his eyes. _'What connections does she have with Sasuke?'_

"Let's just say, Zetsu is such a good spy that he even spies on the least important things," said Pein.

"You know nothing about me," said Sakura. "They didn't betray me."

"Oh, I know almost everything about you Cherry Blossom," said Pein as he continued. "How Sasuke left you heartbroken. How weak you always were. How everyone in Konoha continues to believe that you're the weakest Kunoichi in their village. You bring shame upon Konoh-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Sakura yelled angrily. "I had enough of your crap! Don't say all of that as if you know me. You know nothing about me! You know nothing about what everyone in Konoha thinks. I'm not weak anymore."

_'Heartbroken? Did she love my foolish little brother?' _thought Itachi. _'Why is it that this kunoichi continues to amuse me?'_

Sakura grabbed the Kunai and reversed their positions. She was now standing behind him, holding the kunai tightly against his neck. Pein was surprised that she was able to get him off guard. He hadn't expected her to try anything. He winced as he felt the Kunai start going through his neck. In one swift move, he pulled away and pinned her against the wall. He placed his hand around her neck. Eyes glaring angrily at her. She looked at him with as much anger. The rest of the Akatsuki continued to look in surprise.

_'Damn, tell me how I knew things would not go so well, yeah,' _thought Deidara, as he looked almost worried for what might happen to Sakura. _'She's too stubborn for her own good, yeah.'_

"You got guts kid," said Pein. "But, don't fool yourself. You don't stand a chance against me."

"Or do I?" asked Sakura defiantly.

Pein continued to tighten his grip around her neck as she tried to take his hand off. She was losing way too much oxygen. Right when she felt she would die right there and then, he let go. She fell to the floor, coughing continuously. Trying to regain her breath.

"Konan, take the girl out of here and make sure she doesn't try to escape or anything," demanded Pein.

Konan nodded her head and went over to Sakura. Roughly picking her up by the arm.

Sakura glared, "I can get up on my own, thank you very much."

"Try getting up faster, you little bitch," Konan smirked. _'Who does this little girl think she is? Going against Pein, and now me? Ha, I'll show her.'_

Kisame, Deidara, Sasori and Zetsu all shook their heads and pitied Konan at the moment. Itachi just smirked.

_'She shouldn't have said that,' _they all thought. Considering what happened to Kisame when he called her a bitch.

With the little chakra that she had regained and with as much force as she could muster, Sakura punched Konan across the face. Konan went flying across the room, bumping her back against the wall and forming a dent on it.

"For future reference, don't call me a bitch," hissed Sakura as she walked out of the room.

Kisame and Deidara both started laughing. The rest of them just smirked. Pein was now sitting at the seat he was sitting at earlier. His elbows were propped up on the table as he hid his amusement. He wasn't going to kill Sakura. After all, he could use her power in the Akatsuki...and she was bait for the Kyuubi. But if she continued acting all stubborn and all, then he'd have to put her in her place. But nonetheless, she already seemed to be growing onto the Akatsuki. Well, most of them. He wondered how things would turn out for all of them with the stubborn kunoichi around.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed the chapter, **Please Review**!

**- x Emerald Goddess Of The Night x -**


	3. Embarrassments

**--- Acceptance ---**

**-- Chapter 3: Embarrassments--**

**- Ita/Saku-**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Konan rubbed her back in pain and got up. She glared at the rest of the Akatsuki for making fun of her, and angrily stormed out of the room. She saw Sakura standing there expectantly. She didn't say anything but, shoved past her shoulder and gestured her to follow her.

"Was it necessary for you to do that?" growled Sakura.

Konan turned around and glared at Sakura, "Was it necessary for you to punch me and embarrass me like that?!"

"Hey, it's your fault," said Sakura, amusement tinkling in her emerald eyes. "Just don't call me a bitch next time- and remember, none of you are my superiors. I may be your hostage but, treat me with respect because I **will** fight back."

Konan grinned, _'I like this girl. All tough and stubborn- maybe she ain't as bad as I thought at first.'_

Sakura didn't notice Konan's expression and just continued looking around the whole Akatsuki base, well _one_ of their _many_ bases.

"Is it natural?" asked Konan silently, walking into another room.

Sakura arched an eye brow, "Is what natural?"

"The pink hair," said Konan as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah," answered Sakura absentmindly, looking around the room.

"That's weird," said Konan, sitting on a bed. "Having pink hair is so...yuck."

"You act like having light blue hair ain't weird," said Sakura, rolling her eyes and sprawling her legs onto the couch.

Why was she talking to her anyway? She just punched her brutally into a wall. She didn't like her. She didn't have to act like they were friends now.

"How's Konoha like?" asked Konan, with a look of curiosity in her face, she had never been to Konoha before.

"I didn't answer Deidara when he asked me that question, I won't answer you," said Sakura harshly.

"Sheesh, calm down," said Konan. "I just asked you a damn question, don't gotta get all snappy."

"Why the hell are you acting like we're friends anyway?" asked Sakura. "I don't like you. Don't talk to me."

Konan rolled her eyes, "They weren't kidding when they said your as stubborn as a mule."

Sakura narrowed her eyes, _'Who's they?'_

"Hn," was all Sakura said.

Konan's eyes narrowed, "Great, another Itachi!"

"Don't compare me to that bastard," said Sakura coldly.

"Why are you so cold anyway?" asked Konan. "Like come on, still in love with the Uchiha? Get over him, you're acting like a child."

Konan found herself pinned to the wall, air being lost from Sakura's tight grip around her throat. Sakura's eyes glared holes into Konan's eyes. Even though Konan wouldn't admit it, she was a bit scared of what the pinkette would do to her.

_'Okay, she is as bad as I thought at first,' _thought Konan.

"I am not in love with that egotistical, selfish bastard," hissed Sakura menacingly. "If you ever say that again, I swear I'll kill you."

"You're just in denial," smirked Konan. "What, you're gonna cry now?"

"I haven't cried in five years," snarled Sakura. "Not for Sasuke, not for my parents, not for anyone."

Sakura's grip around Konan's throat tightened, causing the smirk on Konan's face to disappear.

"Le-let go of m-me you damn bitch!" yelled Konan, trying to pry off Sakura's hands from her neck.

Whoops. She just made a **huge** mistake.

**The Leader & Akatsuki**

Deidara and Kisame stopped laughing and turned serious when they faced the leader.

"The girl will be staying with us for a while," said Pein, everyone's attention on him. "We will give her a week or two to think about joining us. If she continues to refuse, we will find a way to force her to join. I know how powerful she is, we'll make good use of her abilities. You are not to tell her that she's bait for the Kyuubi. Itachi, you are to keep your eye on her. You will have to find some way to make her heal those eyes. Though I have a feeling it will be hard, she's quite stubborn."

Itachi didn't say anything but, Pein knew that Itachi understood what he had to do.

"Can Tobi be friends with Sakura?" asked Tobi.

"Do whatever you guys want with her, as long as you don't give away any secret information," said Pein. "Don't tell her of our whereabouts either. I'm sure some of the Leaf Shinobi will be looking for her. Which is why we might have to move a few times."

"What about her chakra?" asked Kisame, was he suppose to continue drawing chakra from her?

"Right now, we can't trust her much," said Pein. "So you will continue to take away chakra from her. Itachi will be seeing how much she's grown to trust us a bit...if she ever does, then you will stop taking so much chakra. When she joins us, which is everyones' job to convince her to, then you will no longer need to take away her chakra."

"Tobi is hungry," said Tobi, rubbing his stomach. "Is dinner ready yet?"

Pein nodded his head.

-**Bang-Boom-Crash-Cling- "AAAAAAAAAH!"**

All of the Akatsuki members got up and left the room to see what the commotion was about.

"She must have called her a bitch again, yeah," said Deidara laughing a bit.

After walking down some halls, they saw a smashed wall, with Konan under all the sheet rock. Sakura was standing over her, glaring daggers. She didn't even look up when the other Akatsuki members arrived. Konan got up and rubbed her head, glaring at Sakura once again.

"I'm getting tired of this bullshit!" yelled Konan angrily. She just met the girl and already she's been punched into two walls!

Sakura didn't say anything and turned her head to look at the other Akatsuki members. The guy with a orange mask, that had one hole for his eye-Tobi, walked over to Sakura.

"Tobi is a good boy!" said Tobi, outstretching his hand for Sakura to take.

Sakura looked down at his hand and looked back up at him. She was going to shove his hand away and tell him to get lost but, for some reason...she couldn't manage to be mean to him.

_'What's with this guy talking in third-person?'_thought Sakura. _'It's like he's only five years old, and what the fuck is up with that mask? It looks like he cut it off a rotten tree and stuck it on his face. But, rotten trees are green...so did he paint it? Well, that could explain it...I mean this guy acts like he's five! It would be no surprise if he got finger paint from his closet and started painting the mask.'_

Sakura took her hand out and shook Tobi's hand, "Sakura."

"Tobi think that Sakura-chan looks pretty," said Tobi sheepishly.

Deidara and Kisame looked at Sakura, wondering what her reaction to that would be. Would she punch him through a wall too?

_'Hell yeah!'_thought Deidara. _'Maybe she'll injure him brutally and we won't have to listen to the idiot, yeah!'_

_'Sakura-**chan**? Well, he's certainly friendlier than I thought Akatsuki members to be,'_ thought Sakura. _'And did he just say I'm pretty? That's kinda nice...'_

"Thanks," was all Sakura said as she turned around to see a fist thrown her way.

A hand quickly blocked the punch, the arm belonging to Pein. He had stopped Konan's fist from making contact with Sakura's face. Which got a surprised gasp out of Konan.

"Konan stop," demanded Pein. "Kunoichi, you need to repair this wall and stop punching everyone."

"Konan was the one who broke it," mumbled Sakura.

"I wouldn't have broke it if you didn't punch me!" said Konan defensively.

"I wouldn't have punched you if you would have just listened to what I told you about five minutes ago," said Sakura hotly.

Konan's fist clenched as she glared at Sakura, "Argh! Can I kill her?!"

"Go ahead and try," challenged Sakura.

"Both of you, stop!" demanded Pein in an annoyed tone. "We're going to have dinner now. If you two don't shut the hell up, then I'll kill both of you."

Sakura was hungry, so she decided to shut up. Konan just huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Where are Hidan and Kakuzu, yeah?" asked Deidara curisously as they made their way towards the kitchen.

"They still haven't returned from their mission," said Konan as they entered the kitchen and all sat around the table. Sakura once again, sat in the empty seat- between Itachi and Deidara.

A lady who was dressed like any ordinary woman from a village, started serving them food; almost in fright. Sakura could see the fright in the woman's eyes and almost felt bad.

_'They must have forced her to work for them,'_thought Sakura. _'They probably can't cook for their lives! They also must need a lady to clean and look out for them. Why the hell can't Konan do it? Ugh, that lazy tramp isn't good for anything! She should be the one serving the food, not some villager!'_

She saw Kisame's face turn into different emotions and wondered why he looked so awkward and mad. Sakura looked down at all of their plates and saw fish. She shook her head and almost felt the need to laugh.

"Find something amusing, kunoichi," asked Kisame angrily.

Sakura smirked, "Other than your brother being your dinner? No not really."

Deidara chuckled and shook his head, _'I sure like this kunoichi.'_

"Seriously, can I just kill her already?!" Kisame asked Pein angrily.

"I know right," put in Konan. "I'm tired of her smart mouth!"

"Haruno, you really need to get your act together," hissed Pein. "We will not hesitate in killing you."

"If that were true, you would have killed me a long time ago," muttered Sakura as she started eating her food.

They all just stayed silent and ate their food too.

**After Dinner**

Sakura was to be under Itachi's captivity. So there she was, laying down in his bed- bored to death. He had gone out to go talk to Pein. Maybe a mission...she wasn't sure, not that she cared. She heard the door open and sat up. She was surprised to see Deidara there. He flashed her a smile.

"Hey Sakura," greeted Deidara as he entered the room, bringing in a bag with him. "We left your other bag of extra clothes in the other base. We figured you wanted to take a shower so hopefully Konan's clothes will fit you. She didn't want to bring them up- nor lend them to you, considering the fact that you two don't get along too well. So I brought them for you."

Sakura took the bag from Deidara, "Thanks."

To Sakura's surprise, instead of leaving; Deidara sat on the bed, beside her. She arched a pink eye brow and looked at him.

"Need something?" asked Sakura coldly.

"You never did answer my question from before, yeah," grinned Deidara.

"Nor will I ever," bit out Sakura. "Get out."

"Why can't you tell me about how your life is in Konoha?" asked Deidara. "I'll tell you about how my life was in Stone, yeah."

"I don't give a damn about your life in Stone," hissed Sakura. "Now, get out before I make you get out."

Deidara quickly got up and waved his hands frantically in front of him, "No need for that, I'm leaving, yeah."

Sakura didn't say anything as Deidara left out the door. She opened up the bag and saw sweat pants and a tank top.

_'At least it looks comfortable,'_thought Sakura. _'Though, I need to wash my under garments. Where the heck is the bathroom?'_

She opened one of the doors-- it was a closet. She opened up another door;

"Ahah, found it," said Sakura to herself as she walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She made sure that it was locked as she set the bag down and stripped herself from all the clothes she was wearing; which took a while considering the fact that she was wearing her ninja attire. She turned the handle and made it so that the water was warm, not too hot, not too cold.

She stepped into the shower and let the water hit her body. After a while of getting her body used to the temperature of the water, she grabbed a bottle of shampoo and squeezed some onto her hand. She then scrubbed at her hair, getting rid of any dirt left there. While taking a shower, she let herself ponder onto other thoughts.

_'How long will they keep me here?'_wondered Sakura. _'I hope that they know that I will never change my mind about joining them. They must be keeping here for some other reason. I just have a feeling....I mean, wouldn't they have killed me already if they didn't need me for something important? Using my abilities in their organization shouldn't be too important to them. I wonder what they are planning...'_

After getting rid of everything, Sakura grabbed one of the towels she found on the rack and wrapped it around her body. She got her under garments and started washing them.

_'Ugh, washing them and then drying them...this will take forever!'_thought Sakura. _'I won't ever get my ass out of the bathroom.'_

Either way, she started washing her bra and underwear- it's the only thing she had at the moment...she would need to go out shopping for some with Konan. I mean, they did say she would be staying with them for a while, right? No matter how much those two hated each other, they were the only girls. So, they would have to put their differences aside at one point. While waiting for it to dry, she looked around the bathroom for a comb.

Smiling happily when she found one, she immediately started combing her hair. At least there would be things to preoccupy her in the bathroom while she waited for her under garments to dry. She looked at herself in the mirror, she sure has grown.

_'I wonder how much Naruto grew over the last couple of years,'_ thought Sakura, sighing. _'It feels like I haven't seen him in forever. Now that I think about it....what business do I have in Konoha? I have no true friends there. I may have about five but, that's it. Either way, they are always sent on some missions. But still, that doesn't mean that I should join the Akatsuki or anything. Those few people are enough to make me want to be back in Konoha.'_

After about another thirty minutes in the bathroom, Sakura thought her bra and underwear were dry enough so she slipped them on and slipped on the tank top and sweat pants that Konan had given her. Sakura growled when she saw that the tank top stopped right above her belly button.

_'I'm going to kill her!'_thought Sakura angrily. _'She did this on purpose!'_

She put her dirty clothes in the bag and slammed the door of the bathroom open, also slamming the door once she left the room. She walked downstairs into the living room where she heard people talking and found Deidara, Kisame, Tobi, and Kakuzu talking. They stopped talking once they saw the pinkette enter the room. Kakuzu whistled and Sakura glared at him, making him shut up. Deidara looked her up and down.

"You're hot, yeah," said Deidara.

"Where the hell is Konan?!" asked Sakura dangerously, ignoring Deidara's comment, knowing that if she paid much attention to him- she would surely kill the poor guy.

"Looking for me, deary?" asked Konan with a smirk on her face as she appeared in the living room.

Sakura glared at her, "Couldn't you pick out a less revealing shirt?"

"I had that shirt from like three years ago, I grew out of it," said Konan. "I didn't think that it would fit you that short. You're going to sleep anyway, deal with it."

"What's the problem?" asked Kakuzu. "You look good. What's your name anyway?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and went back up the stairs, and into the room. Konan stayed in the living room, shaking her head and laughing.

"Why do you hate her so much anyway?" asked Kisame.

"She punched me two damn times," said Konan, turning serious. "Do you know how much that hurt?!"

"Of course he does," said Deidara. "He was the first one to experience it, yeah."

Kisame glared at Deidara, Deidara just shrugged with a grin plastered on his face.

"You called her a bitch, knowing she was going to punch you- so it's not right that you keep being mean to her," said Kisame. "I mean yeah, the girl is a demon but, she's going to be staying with us for a while; if not permanently. At least try to get along with her."

"Ugh, as if you know anything," scoffed Konan, walking up the stairs.

Deidara shook his head, "Why do girls fight so much, yeah?"

"Like they say, it's hard for girls to be friends with other girls but it's easy for guys to be friends with other guys," said Kisame. "Girls are just too...bitchy."

"That's kinda true," said Kakuzu.

**With Sakura**

She angrily entered the room, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her.

"Don't break the door," hissed a voice from inside the room.

Sakura was a bit surprised when she saw Itachi standing there. She was even more surprised when she saw him half-naked. He was standing there, in only sweat pants. Sakura felt her face turning red, and her palms turning sweaty. She saw his six-pack abs-- so muscular. His arms were all muscle, no fat. She felt her face getting redder and redder by the second.

_'Pull yourself together, Sakura!'_thought Sakura. _'So what if a hot S-class criminal is standing half-naked in the middle of the room. It's no big deal...Just ignore him. Ah! I haven't felt this embarrassed in years! What the hell... Damn he has so much muscles...he's sexy- ah! Okay, what's going on with my head?! Calm down, it's just Itachi. He's a bastard, just like his brother. I can calm myself down.'_

Sakura took a deep breath and walked over to the bed, "Sorry, Konan just keeps getting me pissed."

Itachi didn't say anything as he got on the bed, Sakura's eyes widened when she saw him getting under the covers.

"If you're sleeping here, then where am I going to sleep?" asked Sakura.

Itachi looked over at the empty space on the bed- next to him. Sakura waved her hands in front of her.

"Nu-uh, I am not sleeping on the same bed as you," said Sakura. "Either you sleep in some other room or the floor but, I am not sleeping with you."

_'Ugh, I make it sound so wrong!'_thought Sakura. _'I'm just sleeping on the bed- beside him. Not actually doing anything...'_

Itachi didn't say anything and just closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. Sakura sighed, she felt like she was talking to herself. She layed down on the bed and went under the covers too, Itachi smirked when he felt her laying down next to him.

"Just for the record, if you so much as lay a finger on me- I'm going to murder you," said Sakura.

"Hn," was the only answer Sakura got from Itachi, she glared at his back.

_'Stupid bastard,'_thought Sakura, as she tried to fall asleep.

**The Next Morning**

Sakura felt like that was the best sleep she had, had in years! She didn't even feel like detaching herself from the warm teddy bear that she was holding onto. Instead, she cuddled in more with the teddy bear, hiding her head deeper into it's.....muscular chest?

_'Teddy bear?'_ her eyes shot open.

Her face once again went red, as she found herself holding onto Itachi, looking at his bare chest, with one of his arms wrapped around her petite waist. He looked down at her and slightly smirked at her flushed face.

_'She's just too amusing,' _thought Itachi.

Sakura's eyes flared as she glared at him, "Didn't I tell you not to touch me!"

"You were the one to grab on to me first," started of Itachi- surprising Sakura that he could actually talk! Also making Sakura feel even more embarrassed. " I just needed to get myself into a more comfortable position."

Sakura didn't think that she could get any more embarrassed than she was right now. The sight just didn't look right- she was wearing a tank top that would be considered as more of a belly shirt than anything and sweat pants, and Itachi was half-naked, with his arm wrapped around her waist! She had her hands leaning on his chest. It just didn't look right, if anyone came in....they would have thought that the two had done something! Sakura didn't think that things could get even more worse than they already were. Of course, the world never did seem to be on her side. Sakura felt her whole world and dignity crashing down when the door slammed open.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey everyone, sorry that it took some time to update! =/

But, I got an extremely busy schedule now.

Especially since my birthday is coming up(March.6=]!), and I'm already doing preparations and stuff.

Well, I'll be updating my other stories and update this one as soon as I can.

I hope you liked the chapter, Please leave a Review!=]

**-X Emerald Goddess Of The Night X-**


	4. Important AN

**Author's Note--**

**Kay, I really really hate to do this you people. I am seriously sorry but, this story as well as my Gaa/Saku story and my Shika/Saku story will be put on hold. If you want to know the reason, look at the last chapter on my Gaa/Saku story. **

**This will not be updated until another two months or so.**

**I am terribly sorry, please forgive & understand.**

**Love,**

**-XEmerald Goddess Of The NightX-**


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